PLAYED AT: Sudbury Community ArenaDate: Apr 27, 2018GAME NOTES: TORONTO EARNS TIE WITH WOLVES, GETS SEMIFINAL SPOT
MACKENZIE DEMPSTER
SUDBURY, Ont. – Sean Wu made 36 saves and Rory Graham scored the game-tying goal with 10:11 left, giving the Toronto Young Nationals a 2-2 tie with the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves on Friday night and sending them to the semifinals at the 2018 TELUS Cup.
The Young Nationals will take on the unbeaten Notre Dame Hounds in the first semifinal on Saturday afternoon (12 p.m. ET).
Needing a win to reach the final four, the Wolves took a 2-1 lead when Joe Mazur tucked a wraparound past Wu on a Sudbury power play at 8:53 of the third period.
But Graham answered back less than a minute later, going upstairs on Sudbury goaltender Alex Vendette with an unassisted effort to give the Young Nationals the single point they needed.
Both teams came out shooting in the first period, with Toronto holding a 13-11 advantage.
The Young Nationals broke through late in the opening frame when Austin Brimmer found Joseph Martino all alone in front to beat Vendette and make it a 1-0 game after one period.
It wasn’t long before the Wolves found themselves on the board; Brett McGlade trickled a wrist shot through the five-hole on Wu at 6:07 of the second period to tie the game.
Sudbury dominated the second period, outshooting the Young Nationals 16-4, but couldn’t find the go-ahead goal. Parker Savard had the best opportunity, but was turned away by Wu on a breakaway late in the middle frame.
The Wolves fired 11 shots at Wu in the third period, many of them late as they pushed for the goal they needed to extend their season, but the Chinese-born puck-stopper was a wall, clinching a spot in the semifinals.